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A basic overview of the major components of a computer
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The Workings of a Computer
7 Major Components
Motherboard CPU RAM Video Card Power Supply Hard Disk Optical Drive
The MotherboardA motherboard is the
main printed circuit board (PCB) found in computers and other
expandable systems. It holds many of the crucial electronic components of
the system, such as the central processing
unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for
other peripherals.A motherboard provides the
electrical connections by which the other
components of the system communicate (talk with
each other).
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
A central processing unit (CPU) is the hardware within
a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer
program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical,
and input/output operations of the system. The term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s. The form, design, and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their
history, but their fundamental operation remains much the same.The fundamental operation of most
CPUs, regardless of the physical form they take, is to execute a
sequence of stored instructions called a
program. The instructions are kept in some kind of computer memory.
RAM (Random Access Memory)Random-access memory (RAM ) is a form of computer data storage. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read and
written in roughly the same amount of time regardless of the
order in which data items are accessed. In contrast, with other direct-access data storage media
such as hard disks, CD-RW’s, DVD-RW’s and the older drum memory, the time required to read and write
data items varies significantly depending on their physical
locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm
movement delays.
Video CardA video card (also called a video adapter, display card, graphics card, graphics board, display
adapter,graphics adapter or frame buffer and sometimes preceded by the
word discrete or dedicated to emphasize the distinction between this
implementation and integrated graphics) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display (such
as a computer monitor). Within the industry, video cards are sometimes
called graphics add-in-boards, abbreviated as AIBs, with the word
"graphics" usually omitted.Historically, video cards developed from
the need to display graphics with growing higher resolutions and color
depths on IBM PC compatible computers.Virtually all current video cards are built
with either AMD-sourced or Nvidia-sourced graphics chips. Most video cards
offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4
decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors.
Power Supply
A power supply unit (PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage
regulated DC Power for the internal components of a computer. Modern personal computers universally use
a switched-mode power supply. Some power supplies have a manual
selector for input voltage, while others automatically adapt to the
supply voltage.
Hard DiskA hard disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device used for
storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks
(platters) coated with magnetic material. An HDD retains its data even when powered off. Data is read in a random-access manner,
meaning individual blocks of data can be stored or
retrieved in any order rather than sequentially. An HDD
consists of one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating disks
(platters) with magnetic heads arranged on a
moving actuator arm to read and write data to the
surfaces.
Optical DriveIn computing, an optical disc
drive (ODD) is a disk drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic
waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from
optical discs. Some drives can only read from discs, but recent drives are
commonly both readers and recorders, also called burners or
writers. Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are common types of
optical media which can be read and recorded by such drives. Optical
drive is the generic name; drives are usually described as "CD" "DVD", or
"Blu-ray", followed by "drive", "writer", etc.